SINCE
slipping
illegally
into
California
from
her
native
Mexico
as
a
child
13
years
ago,
Ariana
de
la
Luz
has
dreamt
of
winning
permanent
residency
in
the
United
States,
but
has
been
unable
to
afford
it.

The
prospect
of
paying
thousands
of
dollars
to
a
lawyer
was
out
of
the
question,
and
she
feared
deportation
if
she
tried
and
failed
to
navigate
the
legal
maze
on
her
own.

So
when
challenged
to
swallow
38
grams
of
live
tequila
worms
in
exchange
for
a
shot
at
getting
a
Green
Card,
the
all-important
government
document
granting
official
permission
to
live
and
work
in
the
US,
Ms
De
la
Luz
jumped
at
the
chance.

"They
stank
-
there
was
this
horrible
smell,"
the
21-year-old
said.
"I
put
a
handful
of
worms
in
my
mouth
and
one
of
them
was
hanging
from
my
lips.
I
felt
like
throwing
up."

It
would
not
have
been
a
problem
if
she
had
thrown
up,
because
to
the
makers
of
Gana
La
Verde,
one
of
the
most
controversial
new
game-shows
to
hit
America’s
television
screens,
the
more
the
contestants
suffer,
and
the
more
the
audience
squirms,
the
more
"entertaining"
the
whole
thing
becomes.

Advocates
for
immigrants’
rights
say
the
show
is
exploitative
and
deeply
distasteful,
and
that
its
Spanish
title
-
which
translates
as
"Win
the
Green"
-
is
misleading.

"People
are
asking,
‘Is
it
true?
Can
I
get
a
Green
Card
through
eating
worms?’
-
and
once
we
tell
them
the
truth
that,
no,
there’s
actually
no
guarantee
of
that,
then
of
course
they
feel
it’s
disgusting,
it’s
degrading,"
said
Professor
Victor
Nieblas,
a
member
of
the
board
of
governors
of
the
American
Immigration
Lawyers
Association
(AILA).

"This
show
plays
on
people’s
fears.
It
targets
the
desperate
people
in
our
society,
people
who
want
to
find
a
way
of
legally
staying
in
the
country,
so
they
fall
prey
to
the
spin
and
the
misrepresentation
of
this
show."

Despite
its
title,
the
game-show
does
not
have
Green
Cards
to
give
away,
nor
has
it
forged
an
alliance
with
the
notoriously
impenetrable
immigration
service
to
rush
people
through
the
system
to
the
final
goal
of
legal
residency
papers.

The
prize
is
a
year’s
services
from
a
team
of
immigration
lawyers,
who
will
work
on
the
winner’s
Green
Card,
with
no
guarantee
of
success.
The
process
of
gaining
a
Green
Card
often
takes
several
years.

To
Ms
De
la
Luz,
who
scooped
the
prize
on
one
episode,
eating
worms
was
a
small
price
for
a
crack
at
the
American
dream.
"Getting
my
Green
Card
will
open
a
lot
of
opportunities
for
me.
You
have
to
risk
something
to
get
something,"
she
said.

For
other
contestants,
the
list
of
gruesome
challenges
has
included
munching
live
scorpions,
beetles
and
crabs,
catching
a
pig
slathered
in
slippery
butter,
being
dragged
several
hundred
yards
by
horses,
lying
in
a
sealed
coffin
with
500
rats
and
leaping
from
a
juggernaut
travelling
at
60mph.

Gana
La
Verde,
launched
last
month,
airs
five
times
a
week
on
Spanish-language
stations
in
Los
Angeles,
Houston,
Dallas
and
San
Diego,
reaching
one
million
Hispanic
households
per
episode
and
even
beating
NBC’s
Fear
Factor,
the
more
mainstream
show
on
which
it
is
partly
modelled,
in
the
Hispanic
popularity
ratings.

Its
opening
credits
feature
a
mock-up
of
contestants
battling
through
the
barbed
wire
that
marks
the
US-Mexico
frontier
as
US
Border
Patrol
helicopters
whirr
overhead,
playing
on
a
scene
that
haunts
many
who
make
the
crossing.

The
programme’s
maker,
Houston-based
Liberman
Broadcasting,
argues
that
it
is
doing
illegal
immigrants
a
service
and
that
Gana
La
Verde
is
eminently
more
purposeful
than
other
game-shows
that
offer
anything
from
instant
brides
to
cosmetic
surgery
as
prizes.
Contestants
sign
a
20-page
set
of
rules
that
spell
out
clearly
that
there
is
no
guarantee
of
a
Green
Card,
explained
the
company’s
executive
vice-president,
Lenard
Liberman,
who
claimed
there
have
been
no
complaints
from
viewers
or
participants,
though
one
advertiser
has
withdrawn
its
custom
in
disgust.

"We’re
just
trying
to
help
people
out
here.
I
don’t
know
what
all
the
controversy’s
about,"
Mr
Liberman
said.

"If
we
gave
away
breast
implants
or
plastic
surgery,
no-one
could
care,
but
try
to
help
Maria
go
from
a
nanny
to
a
nurse,
and
everyone
raises
an
outcry."

Liberman
has
agreed
to
meet
protesters
next
month
to
discuss
the
controversy.
But
he
has
rejected
calls
by
a
coalition
of
groups,
including
the
AILA,
the
Coalition
for
Humane
Immigrant
Rights
of
Los
Angeles
and
the
Mexican
American
Bar
Association,
to
scrap
the
series,
a
demand
spelt
out
in
a
protest
letter
that
told
him:
"Each
day
Gana
La
Verde
is
on
the
air
demonstrates
your
contempt
for
immigrants."

The
US
immigration
service
has
agreed.
"It
sounds
very
much
like
exploitation,"
it
says.

The
issue
of
illegal
immigration
is
a
sensitive
one.
There
are
8.7
million
illegal
immigrants
in
the
US.
Of
the
35
million
people
living
in
California,
2.2
million
are
recorded
by
the
US
Census
Bureau
as
illegal
aliens
-
the
majority
of
them
from
across
the
border
in
Mexico.

Some
obtain
work
visas
and
find
jobs
in
the
agriculture
industry
and
pay
taxes,
but
their
presence
costs
the
US
government
$10
billion
(£5.5
billion)
a
year,
according
to
a
new
report
published
this
week
by
the
Centre
for
Immigration
Studies
in
Washington.

Human-rights
groups
say
there
is
an
urgent
need
to
improve
the
creaking
system
through
which
undocumented
immigrants
can
apply
for
legal
status.

Prof
Nieblas
said
yesterday:
"A
lot
of
people
are
in
the
process
of
obtaining
their
legal
residency,
but
because
of
the
backlogs
they
have
to
go
undercover
and
into
hiding
because
their
visas
have
expired.

"People
are
waiting
years
and
years,
and
when
they
see
an
opportunity
like
this
show
it
attracts
them
because
they
have
tried
everything
else.

"They
think,
‘I
saw
it
on
TV,
so
it
must
be
true
-
they
are
giving
away
Green
Cards
for
eating
bugs.
Where
do
I
sign
up?’"

He
added:
"This
programme
makes
a
mockery
of
our
immigration
laws.
The
system
is
broken,
and
we
need
to
fix
it."

CAUGHT
ON
CAMERA:
TURNING
HUMAN
SUFFERING
INTO
PRIME-TIME
VIEWING

GANA
La
Verde
is
the
latest
in
a
series
of
US
productions
to
be
accused
of
turning
human
suffering
into
a
televisual
spectacle.

One
of
the
most
notorious
was
Bumfights,
a
video
showing
tramps
brawling
or
engaging
in
bizarre
stunts
in
exchange
for
food,
alcohol
and
money.

The
film,
which
was
followed
by
a
production
called
Bag
Lady
Beatings,
showed
scenes
such
as
a
drug-addicted
homeless
man
setting
his
hair
on
fire,
and
another
being
offered
25
cents
to
drink
window-cleaning
fluid.
One
subject
even
rammed
his
head
through
a
glass
window,
egged
on
by
the
teenage
videomakers,
and
rode
down
a
flight
of
stairs
in
a
shopping
trolley.
In
another
scene,
a
man
was
given
a
pair
of
pliers,
with
which
he
pulled
out
one
of
his
teeth.

The
three
producers
were
each
fined
$500
(£278)
and
placed
on
probation
last
year
for
conspiring
to
stage
an
illegal
fight.
Three
of
the
homeless
people
featured
have
launched
civil
lawsuits
against
them.

The
videos
have
earned
producers
millions
of
dollars,
selling
at
$20
(£11)
each
over
the
internet.

In
the
same
way
that
Gana
la
Verde
(Win
the
Green)
has
drawn
accusations
of
exploitation,
advocates
for
the
homeless
complained
that
Bumfights
and
Bag
Lady
Beatings
took
advantage
of
the
vulnerable,
poked
fun
at
a
serious
social
problem
and
amounted
to
hate
crimes.

A
wave
of
copycat
incidents
followed
the
films’
release.
The
young
film-makers
are
unrepentant,
however,
and
say
a
third
production
is
likely.

Bumfights
is
at
the
extreme
end
of
a
genre
that
is
taking
the
United
States
and
Europe
by
storm.
Jackass,
a
television
show
in
which
participants
perform
dangerous
or
sick
stunts
on
each
other,
has
attracted
millions
of
viewers,
and
last
year
spawned
a
£50
million-grossing
film.

But
in
several
incidents,
viewers
have
ignored
the
"don’t
do
this
at
home"
warnings
and
copied
the
stunts.
Earlier
this
year
it
was
reported
that
a
British
waitress
had
been
accused
of
killing
a
drunken
man
by
persuading
him
to
run
head-first
into
a
wall
to
win
drinks.
Gerhard
Renzl
was
wearing
a
crash
helmet
when
he
did
it
-
a
stunt
apparently
copied
from
Jackass
-
but
he
broke
his
neck.
A
court
in
Salzburg,
Austria,
ruled
that
the
waitress
was
not
to
blame.